HOW -THE 


PIANO 


GAME 


TO-BE 


"by-EHye 
Howell 
Glover 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OP 

CALIFORNIA 

SAN  OIEGO 


HOW  THE  PIANO  CAME  TO  BE 


UPRIGHT    HARPSICHORD 

(From  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  New  York  City) 


- 


HOW    THE    PIANO 
CAME    TO    BE 


BY 

ELLYE  HOWELL  GLOVER 


ILLUSTRATED 


CHICAGO 

BROWNE  &  HOWELL  COMPANY 
1913 


COPYRIGHT,    1913 
BY    BROWNE   &  HOWELL    COMPANY 


PUBLISHED,   OCTOBER,   1913 


THE-PLIMPTON'PRESS 

NORWOOD-MASS-U-S-A 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


Upright  Harpsichord Frontispiece 

Clavicytherium  or  Upright  Spinet    .   Facing  page  12 

Clavichord 12 

Spinet       16 

Queen  Elizabeth's  Virginal 16 

Double  Spinet  or  Virginal  made  by  Ludovicus 

Grovvelus 20 

Clavichord  made  by  John  Christopher  Jesse      .  24 

Dulcimer 28 

Christofori  Piano 32 

Piano  made  by  Matthaus  Andreas  Stein  ...  40 

Piano  made  by  Benjamin  Crehore 48 

Piano  made  by  Charles  Albrecht 48 

Piano,  Primitive  German  Action 52 

A  Stodart  Piano 56 


HOW  THE   PIANO  CAME  TO  BE 


How   the    Piano 
Came    To   Be 

r  ROM  the  dried  sinews  stretched 
across  the  shell  of  a  dead  tortoise 
to  the  concert-grand  piano  of  the 
present  day  is  a  far  flight.  Yet  to 
this  primitive  source,  it  is  said,  may 
be  traced  the  evolution  of  the 
stringed  instrument  which  reached 
its  culmination  in  the  piano.  The 
latter  has  been  aptly  called  "the 
household  orchestra,"  and  in  tracing 
its  origin  one  must  go  far  back  into 
the  annals  of  the  past.  If  we  accept 
the  Bible  as  history,  and  it  is  the 
greatest  of  all  histories,  the  stringed 
instrument  is  of  very  ancient  date. 
It  is  recorded  that  the  ambassadors 

[9] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 

who  came  to  the  court  of  Saul 
played  upon  their  nebels,  and  that 
David,  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel, 
wooed  the  king  from  his  sadness  by 
singing  to  his  harp.  We  must  go 
back  to  the  civilization  of  ancient 
Egypt,  more  than  five  hundred 
years  before  that  morning  nearly 
two  thousand  years  ago  when,  it  is 
written,  the  angelic  choir  chanted 
above  the  historic  manger  the  glori- 
ous message,  "  Peace  on  earth,  good 
will  to  men,"  and  the  morning  stars 
sang  together. 

In  the  olden  times  the  Greeks 
laid  claim  to  everything  which  be- 
spoke culture  and  progress.  The 
pages  of  ancient  history  record  no 
other  one  thing  so  persistently  as 
"the  glory  that  was  Greece."  And 
so  they  tell  of  the  time  when  — 

[10] 


CAME     TO     BE 


"Music,  heavenly  maid,  was  young, 
And  yet  in  ancient  Greece  she  sung!" 

It  is  now  generally  conceded,  how- 
ever, that  it  was  not  in  Greece  but 
in  ancient  Egypt  that  art,  music, 
and  the  sciences  in  general  were 
born.  That  the  Egyptians  had 
stringed  instruments  is  unquestion- 
able. Away  back  in  the  year  525 
B.C.  Cambyses  subdued  the  land. 
He  overthrew  the  temples  in  the 
ruins  of  which  have  been  found 
the  records  of  musical  instruments 
dating  from  the  very  earliest  times. 
But  the  priests  who  guarded  the 
temples  were  slain,  and  every  vestige 
of  what  might  have  helped  to  de- 
termine the  origin  of  the  stringed 
instrument,  out  of  which,  later,  the 
piano  was  evolved,  as  well  as  the 
names  of  those  who  wrought  and 

("I 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


endeavored  to  construct  instruments 
which  would  give  forth  music,  was 
forever  lost. 

For  lack  of  written  authority,  then, 
one  must  turn  back  to  tradition  for 
light  upon  the  origin  of  the  piano. 
Tradition  says  that  Ham,  or  one  of 
his  sons,  led  the  first  colony  into 
Egypt.  In  fact  there  is  a  legend 
that  Noah  himself  once  dwelt  there 
and  some  historians  have  identified 
him  with  the  great  deity  of  the 
Egyptians,  Osiris.  To  Hermes,  or 
Mercury,  the  secretary  of  Osiris,  is 
ascribed  the  invention  of  the  first 
stringed  instrument.  The  story  is 
that  Hermes  was  walking  one  day 
along  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  It  was 
just  after  one  of  the  great  inunda- 
tions. The  Nile  had  overflowed  its 
banks  and  the  land  had  been  sub- 


CLAVICYTHERIUM  OR  UPRIGHT  SPINET 


CLAVICHORD 


CAME     TO     BE 

merged.  But  now  the  water  had 
subsided,  and  as  Hermes  walked 
along  the  shore,  his  foot  struck  acci- 
dentally against  the  shell  of  a  dead 
tortoise.  Across  the  inside  of  the 
shell  the  dried  sinews  were  tightly 
stretched.  Hermes  picked  it  up  and 
touched  the  sinews  with  his  fingers. 
He  was  amazed  to  hear  the  sweet 
tones  which  the  picking  of  the 
strings  produced.  He  set  to  work 
to  make  a  musical  instrument,  using 
the  shell  of  a  tortoise  for  the  body 
and  placing  strings  across  it.  In 
substantiation  of  this  legend  we  find 
in  examining  the  lyre  of  the  ancient 
Greeks  that  almost  every  one  was 
ornamented  with  a  tortoise.  We 
find  also  in  the  records  of  the  Hin- 
dus, the  Chinese,  the  Persians,  and 
the  Hebrews  that  these  people  had 

[13] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


stringed  musical  instruments  at  a 
very  early  date  and  that  the  most 
common  among  them  was  the  lyre 
in  its  various  modifications. 

The  famous  sepulcher  of  Rameses 
III  is  elaborately  ornamented  with 
harps.  Specimens  of  this  instru- 
ment have  been  found  also  in  exca- 
vations made  in  comparatively  recent 
years.  In  1823  Sir  J.  G.  Wilkinson 
discovered  in  an  old  Egyptian  tomb 
a  harp  which,  despite  the  fact  that 
three  thousand  years  had  gone  by 
since  it  had  been  put  to  sleep  beside 
its  royal  master,  was  in  an  excellent 
state  of  preservation.  The  strings 
were  of  cat-gut  and  were  in  marvel- 
ously  good  condition.  The  custom 
which  the  Egyptians  had  of  portray- 
ing their  daily  life  upon  their  city 
walls,  their  temples,  and  tombs  has 


CAME     TO     BE 


been  of  incalculable  value  to  the 
antiquarians  in  search  of  authentic 
information.  From  the  pictures 
which  ornament  these  temples  and 
tombs  we  have  learned  that  the  harp 
and  the  lyre  were  the  favorite  instru- 
ments of  the  Egyptians,  and  these 
carvings  alone  furnish  indisputable 
proof  of  their  use  by  these  people. 

But  all  the  research  which  man, 
thus  far,  has  been  able  to  make  has 
not  revealed  just  who  it  was  that 
first  discovered  music  in  a  lifeless 
instrument.  This  fact  will  always 
be  deeply  veiled  in  mystery.  All 
attempts  to  unravel  the  threads  have 
failed.  None  knows  yet  just  who 
they  were  who  first 

"Struck  the  chorded  shell, 
And,  wondering,  on  their  faces  fell 
To  worship  the  celestial  sounds. 

[iSl 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


Less  than  a  God  they  thought  there  scarce 

could  dwell 

Within  the  hollow  of  that  shell 
That  spoke  so  sweetly  and  so  well." 

Just  how  many  strings  Hermes 
had  on  his  tortoise-shell  instrument 
is  a  much  disputed  question.  Some 
say  there  were  but  three  and  that 
they  represented  the  three  seasons 
— spring,  summer,  and  winter — into 
which  it  was  the  custom  of  the 
Greeks  to  divide  their  year.  Some 
authorities  claim  that  the  strings 
numbered  four.  Others  say  there 
were  seven.  No  one  knows.  The 
Greek  harp  was  played  by  picking 
the  strings  with  the  fingers  or  with 
a  plectrum.  The  latter  was  a  small 
piece  of  bone  or  metal,  held  in  the 
fingers,  with  which  the  strings  were 
snapped.  Sometimes  a  short  piece 

[16] 


SPINET 


QUEEN  ELIZABETH'S  VIRGINAL 


CAME     TO     BE 


of  wood  was  used  to  strike  the 
strings. 

A  step  forward  in  the  evolution  of 
the  stringed  instrument  was  made 
during  the  Middle  Ages  when  the 
psaltery  became  popular.  It  con- 
sisted of  a  box  with  strings  across 
it,  and  records  for  us  the  first  attempt 
at  a  sounding  board.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  dulcimer,  which  closely 
resembled  it  but  was  somewhat 
larger.  A  plectrum  was  used  to 
play  them  both. 

A  very  good  idea  of  the  psaltery 
and  dulcimer  may  be  obtained 
from  the  xylophone.  This  instru- 
ment has  bars  of  wood  or  metal 
which  are  struck  with  a  wooden 
mallet.  The  keyboard  was  invented 
in  the  eleventh  century.  It  was 
applied  first  to  an  instrument  called 

[17] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


a  clavier  and  later  to  the  organ. 
The  first  stringed  instrument  to 
which  this  new  device  was  applied 
was  the  clavicytherium,  or  keyed 
cithara.  It  had  a  box  with  a  cover 
and  strings  of  cat-gut,  arranged  in 
the  form  of  a  half  triangle.  It  was 
made  to  sound  by  means  of  a  quill 
plectrum  attached  in  a  rude  way  to 
the  end  of  the  keys.  This  was  the 
progress  the  piano  of  today  had 
made  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

Next  in  order  of  development 
comes  the  monochord,  clarichord,  or 
clavichord,  the  latter  being  the  name 
by  which  it  is  generally  known.  As 
it  was  the  instrument  most  used 
during  the  six  centuries  which  fol- 
lowed, it  is  worthy  of  close  study. 
In  shape  it  much  resembled  a  small 
square  piano  without  frame  or  legs. 

[18] 


CAME     TO     BE 


The  strings  were  of  brass,  struck 
by  a  wedge  made  of  the  same 
metal  which  was  called  a  tangent. 
It  was  capable  of  soft  tones  only, 
but  they  were  very  sweet  and  mel- 
ancholy. The  elder  Bach  loved  this 
instrument.  He  did  not  take  kindly 
to  the  piano  which  was  about  to 
supplant  his  beloved  clavichord.  One 
regrets  that  he  could  not  have  lived 
to  have  seen  it  perfected.  In  play- 
ing the  music  written  by  Bach  we 
must  remember  that  he  wrote  en- 
tirely for  the  clavichord.  The  in- 
strument he  used  was,  without  doubt, 
the  product  of  Italy,  as  during  this 
time  the  Italians  led  all  Europe  in 
the  arts.  At  a  later  period  the 
clavichord  was  copied  by  the  Ger- 
mans and  Belgians.  It  was  used  by 
them  for  centuries  on  account  of  its 

[19] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


simple  construction  and  low  price. 
Mozart  always  carried  one  with  him 
as  part  of  his  baggage  when  travel- 
ing. The  virginal,  spinet,  and  harp- 
sichord followed  the  clavichord  in 
rapid  succession,  considering  that 
the  last  named  instrument  had 
been  in  favor  for  such  a  long  time, 
with  seemingly  no  attempt  at  im- 
provement. All  of  these  three 
instruments  had  strings  of  brass, 
with  quill  plectra  attached  to 
pieces  of  wood.  These  were  called 
"jacks"  —  a  name  still  used  today 
in  making  up  the  action  of  the 
piano. 

The  virginal  and  spinet  were 
almost  identical  with  each  other, 
but  the  harpsichord  was  larger  and 
occasionally  was  built  with  two 
keyboards.  There  are  several  ex- 

[20] 


a 

o 
c 


*  > 
-»  o 


O 
pi 

O 


CAME     TO     BE 


planations  as  to  why  the  virginal 
was  so  called.  One  is  that  it  got 
its  name  from  its  association  with 
hymns  to  the  Virgin.  Another  is 
that  it  was  thus  called  in  honor  of 
Elizabeth,  the  Virgin  Queen.  We 
may  accept  whichever  theory  best 
suits  us,  but  history  records  that 
both  Elizabeth  and  Mary  of  Scotland 
were  proficient  in  its  use  and  that 
it  was  the  favorite  instrument  of 
Henry  VIII.  Items  for  repairs  and 
for  instruction  in  playing  the  vir- 
ginal appear  frequently  in  the  royal 
expense  book,  showing  conclusively 
that  His  Majesty  was  not  unmind- 
ful of  such  accomplishments.  Four 
octaves  was  the  range  of  these  old 
instruments,  from  the  second  added 
line  below  in  the  bass  to  the  second 
added  line  above  in  the  treble. 

[21] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


There  was  but  one  string  to  each 
note,  and  one  can  well  understand 
why  a  writer  of  that  period  de- 
scribes the  tone  as  "a  scratch  with 
a  sound  at  the  end  of  it."  Queen 
Elizabeth's  virginal  is  still  preserved 
at  Worcestershire.  It  is  a  most 
elaborate  creation,  having  a  cedar 
case  ornately  covered  with  crimson 
velvet  and  lined  with  yellow  silk.  Its 
weight  is  only  twenty-four  pounds. 
Gold  plate  covers  the  front.  Thirty 
of  its  fifty  keys  are  of  ebony  with 
tips  of  gold.  The  semitone  keys 
are  inlaid  with  silver,  ivory,  and  vari- 
ous woods,  each  key  being  composed 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pieces. 
The  royal  arms  are  emblazoned  upon 
the  case.  The  Queen's  virginal  in- 
struction book  is  also  carefully  kept, 
one  of  the  many  silent  records  of 

[22] 


CAME     TO     BE 


the  accomplishments  of  this  gifted 
and  brilliant  woman. 

The  instrument  which  belonged, 
once  upon  a  time,  to  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots  was  not  quite  so  gorgeous. 
Its  case  was  of  oak  inlaid  with  cedar, 
but  it  was  ornamented  with  gold 
and  had  rare  paintings  on  the  case. 
It  was  customary  to  employ  the 
best  artists  to  decorate  these  in- 
struments, as  this  greatly  enhanced 
their  value.  There  is  a  story  that 
Salvatore  Rosa,  on  a  wager,  made 
his  almost  valueless  harpsichord 
worth  a  thousand  scudi  by  painting 
a  landscape  with  figures  upon  the 
lid. 

In  July  of  the  year  1701  the 
London  Post  had  an  article  relating 
to  virginals  which  reads:  :<This 
week  a  most  curious  pair  of  virginals, 

[23] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


reckoned  to  be  the  finest  in  Eng- 
land, was  shipped  off  for  the  Grand 
Seigneur's  seraglio." 

Old  Pepys,  in  his  diary,  gives  a 
description  of  the  great  fire  in  Lon- 
don which  occurred  in  1666,  in  which 
he  says:  "The  river  was  full  of 
lighters  and  boats,  taking  in  goods, 
good  goods  swimming  in  the  water; 
and  only  I  observed  that  hardly 
one  lighter  or  boat  but  that  there 
was  a  pair  of  virginals  on  it."  The 
word  "pair"  as  it  is  used  then  had 
no  more  meaning  than  when  we 
now  say  "a  pair  of  scissors."  This 
extract  shows  that  the  instrument 
must  have  been  almost  as  commonly 
used  as  the  piano  of  our  day.  In 
Shakespeare's  time  it  was  customary 
to  have  a  virginal  in  a  barber  shop 
for  the  entertainment  of  customers, 

[24] 


o 


CAME     TO     BE 

probably  to  beguile  the  weary  mo- 
ments while  they  waited  for  the 
barber  to  say  "next." 

In  shape  the  spinet  resembled  the 
harp  placed  horizontally  in  the 
framework.  A  very  good  example 
may  be  seen  at  the  South  Kensing- 
ton Museum  in  London.  It  was 
made  by  Rossi,  a  celebrated  manu- 
facturer. The  Metropolitan  Museum 
in  New  York  has  rare  specimens  of 
the  harp  which  were  given  by  the 
late  Mr.  Drexel,  of  Philadelphia,  who 
purchased  them  in  Europe.  There 
are  two  theories  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  name  "spinet."  One  is,  that  it 
was  taken  from  Spinetti,  a  Venetian 
who  invented  the  oblong  form  of 
the  case.  The  other  is  that  the 
strings  were  made  to  vibrate  by 
the  points  of  a  quill,  and  that  the 

Us) 


HOW     THE     PIANO 


word  "spinet"  came  from  thorn  or 
point. 

In  tone  the  spinet  was  usually  a 
fifth  higher  than  that  of  the  harpsi- 
chord, which  came  into  favor  during 
the  eighteenth  century.  The  latter 
was  almost  exactly  like  our  grand 
piano,  only  very  much  smaller.  To 
Italy  has  been  accorded  the  honor 
of  its  origin,  also,  away  back  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  It  was  not  com- 
monly used,  however,  until  about 
1702.  A  harpsichord  on  exhibition 
at  the  South  Kensington  Museum 
in  London  bears  the  date  of  1521. 
A  step  towards  the  present-day  con- 
struction of  the  piano  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  there  were  always  two 
wire  strings  to  each  note  and  some- 
times three  or  four,  and  that  it  had 
a  keyboard  covering  five  octaves. 
[26] 


CAME     TO     BE 

It  was  like  an  organ  in  that  it  had 
register  stops  and  sometimes  a  double 
keyboard. 

Hans  Ruckers,  of  Antwerp,  was 
the  most  celebrated  maker  of  the 
harpsichord  in  those  days.  One  of 
his  best  specimens  belongs  to  the 
Drexel  collection  in  New  York.  Han- 
del delighted  in  his  Ruckers  harpsi- 
chord and  gave  it  preference  over 
all  others,  which  is  adequate  proof 
of  its  superiority.  It  was  his  pleas- 
ure to  play  upon  it  long  after  his 
failing  eyesight  forbade  the  use  of 
notes.  He  had  to  improvise  entirely, 
but  was  so  expert  that  the  orchestra 
with  whom  he  played  was  often 
diverted  by  his  wonderful  accom- 
paniments. This  partiality  was  re- 
sented by  the  soloists  and  one  of 
them  told  Handel  that  if  he  ever 

[27] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


played  him  such  a  trick  while  he 
was  singing,  he  would  jump  down  on 
his  harpsichord  and  smash  it.  This 
amused  Handel  immensely  and  he 
exclaimed,  "You  vill  jump,  vill  you? 
Varey  well,  sare.  Be  so  kind  und 
tell  me  ven  you  vill  jump,  und  I  vill 
advertise  it  in  der  bills."  We  are 
told  that  every  key  of  Handel's 
instrument  was  hollowed  like  the 
bowl  of  a  spoon,  so  incessant  was  his 
practice.  One  very  lovely  harpsi- 
chord still  in  existence  has  its  history 
veiled  in  mystery,  but  the  supposi- 
tion is  that  it  once  belonged  to  Marie 
Antoinette. 

Clementi  had  one  of  the  last 
harpsichords  made.  The  date  upon 
the  case  was  1802.  Beethoven's  fa- 
mous "Moonlight  Sonata"  was  writ- 
ten for  either  harpsichord  or  piano. 

[28] 


DULCIMER 


CAME     TO     BE 


It  was  published  in  1802.  Hummel 
played  on  the  harpsichord  as  late 
as  1805,  but  it  had  to  give  way, 
though  most  reluctantly,  to  the  new 
invention  called  the  pianoforte.  Just 
how  slow  the  public  was  in  accepting 
the  innovation  and  improvement 
upon  the  instruments  mentioned, 
the  following  quotation  from  a  folio 
gotten  out  by  Thomas  Mace,  who 
was  one  of  the  clerks  of  Trinity 
College,  at  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, testifies.  He  was  pleased  to 
call  his  booklet  "Musick's  Monu- 
ment," and  it  was  printed  in  1676 
in  London. 

He  scorned  the  new  invention  but 
warmly  upheld  the  lute  and  viol. 
He  explained  that  the  lute  was  once 
considered  difficult  to  play  because 
it  had  too  few  strings,  only  ten  to 


"      m        = 
HOW     THE     PIANO 


fourteen,  while  at  the  time  of  his 
writing  it  had  sixteen  to  twenty-six. 
He  makes  the  statement  that  he 
never  spent  more  than  a  shilling  a 
quarter  for  strings.  The  care  of  a 
lute  he  describes  quaintly: 

"And  that  you  may  know  how 
to  shelter  your  lute  in  the  worst  of 
ill  weathers  (which  is  moist)  you 
shall  do  well,  ever  when  you  lay  it 
by  in  the  day  time,  to  put  It  into  a 
Bed  that  is  constantly  used,  between 
the  Rug  and  Blanket,  but  never 
between  the  Sheets,  because,  they 
may  be  moist.  This  is  the  most 
absolute  and  best  place  to  keep 
It  in  always,  by  which  doing,  you 
will  find  many  Great  Conveniences. 
Therefore,  a  Bed  will  secure  from 
all  these  inconveniences  and  keep 
your  Glew  as  Hard  as  Glass  and  all 
[30] 


CAME     TO     BE 


safe  and  sure;  only  to  be  excepted, 
that  no  Person  be  so  inconsiderate 
as  to  Tumble  down  upon  the  Bed 
whilst  the  lute  is  there,  for  I  have 
known  several  Good  lutes  spoiled 
with  such  a  Trick." 

Again  we  are  indebted  to  Italy 
for  the  invention  and  name  of  the 
pianoforte.  It  is  a  strange  fact 
that,  entirely  unknown  to  one  an- 
other, three  men  were  working  out 
the  same  principle  —  namely,  the 
hammer  action  —  at  the  same  time. 
Marius  in  France,  Schroeter  in 
Germany,  and  Bartolomeo  Christo- 
fori  (often  called  Christofali)  in  Italy 
worked  secretly  and  simultaneously, 
and  for  a  long  time  it  was  undecided 
to  whom  the  honor  really  belonged. 
A  careful  examination  of  all  records, 
however,  establishes  beyond  a  doubt 

[31] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


the  priority  of  Christofori's  claim. 
The  hammer  action  was  what  all 
previous  instruments  lacked,  and 
it  seems  strange  that  it  took  nearly 
two  thousand  years  for  this  principle 
to  be  discovered  and  applied.  Many 
times  the  inventors  appeared  to  be 
almost  upon  it.  They  worked  all 
around  it,  but  the  idea  seemed  illu- 
sive and  they  never  grasped  it. 

At  this  point  it  might  be  well  to 
enumerate  in  order  the  instruments 
which  preceded  the  piano,  if  only  to 
fasten  them  clearly  in  memory:  the 
lyre  and  harp  of  the  ancients; 
the  dulcimer,  played  by  means  of 
the  plectra  and  to  which,  as  the 
hand  could  use  but  one  plectrum, 
there  was  a  keyboard  added  to  use 
all  the  ringers,  thus  moving  the 
plectra  faster;  the  clavichord,  with 

[32] 


CHRISTOFORI  PIANO  FROM  THE  METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM 
OF  ART,  NEW  YORK  CITY 


CAME     TO     BE 


tangents  of  brass  to  strike  the  strings ; 
the  virginal  and  the  spinet,  in  reality 
the  same;  the  harpsichord,  with  its 
crow  quills  to  half  rub,  half  strike 
the  strings,  still  far  away  from  the 
hammer  action  of  the  present-day 
piano.  It  seems  almost  unaccount- 
able that  the  manufacturers  who  so 
greatly  improved  the  mechanism  of 
the  harpsichord  at  this  stage  failed 
to  discover  the  hammer  action.  But 
at  last,  after  the  quest  of  centuries, 
the  quill,  thorn,  and  ivory  were  dis- 
carded and  a  small  hammer  struck 
the  string,  giving  a  clear,  precise, 
but  delicate  tone  hitherto  unheard. 
The  "scratch  with  a  sound  at  the 
end"  was  gone  forever.  The  harp- 
sichord had  been  changed  into  an 
instrument  of  percussion,  and  it  only 
remained  for  man  to  perfect  that 

[33]  • 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


primitive  creation  into  the  superb 
piano  of  today. 

Although  Italy  gave  the  invention 
to  the  world,  it  remained  for  northern 
Europe  and  England  to  take  up  the 
idea  and  improve  it.  Christofori 
solved  three  important  problems: 
first,  the  construction  of  thicker 
strings  to  withstand  the  hammer 
action ;  second,  a  way  to  compensate 
for  the  weakness  caused  by  the  open- 
ing in  the  tuning-pin  block;  third, 
the  mechanical  control  of  the  re- 
bound of  the  hammer  from  the 
strings,  so  that  the  hammer  should 
not  block  against  the  latter  and  pre- 
vent vibration. 

The  first  Christofori  instrument 
was  brought  out  in  1709.  Marius 
did  not  come  forth  with  his  claim 
until  1716,  and  Schroeter  not  until 

[34] 


CAME     TO     BE 

the  next  year.  The  name  "piano- 
forte" is  traced  clearly  to  the  year 
1598  and  is  said  to  have  been  origi- 
nated by  an  Italian  named  Palia- 
rino.  In  some  of  his  manuscripts 
he  mentions  an  instrument  called 
piano  e  forte.  The  English  put  in 
a  claim  for  a  monk  living  in  Rome 
who  had  made  an  instrument  re- 
sembling Christofori's  in  1711  and 
had  brought  it  to  England,  where  it 
created  a  profound  sensation.  This 
may  have  been  true,  but  England 
did  little  to  develop  even  the  harp- 
sichord until  long  after  Continental 
makers  had  achieved  marked  success 
in  the  business.  In  1760  German 
workmen  to  the  number  of  twelve 
went  to  London.  They  were  known 
as  the  Twelve  Apostles,  and  it  is 
their  descendants  who  became  identi- 

[35] 


fied  with  the  successful  development 
of  the  piano  down  to  the  present 
time. 

Very  few  of  the  first  Christofori 
pianos  have  been  preserved.  One, 
in  excellent  repair,  is  in  the  Metro- 
politan Museum  in  New  York.  Two 
are  in  Florence,  dated  1720  and  1726. 
They  show,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  he 
had  anticipated  the  plan  of  escape- 
ment and  hammer  checking.  Like 
many  other  pioneer  inventors,  this 
man  died  in  comparative  poverty. 
Schroeter,  the  German  claimant,  be- 
came a  famous  maker  of  instru- 
ments. He  succeeded  in  improving 
the  piano  to  a  large  extent.  But 
his  life  was  made  miserable  fighting 
the  claims  of  other  manufacturers 
who  sprang  up  and  immediately 
went  into  business.  Marius  met 
[36] 


CAME     TO     BE 


the  same  fate,  being  driven  to  dis- 
traction by  competitors,  some  of 
whom  turned  out  instruments  far 
superior  to  his. 

England  did  not  accomplish  much 
before  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Up  to  1760  all  pianos 
were  made  in  what  is  known  as  the 
"grand"  form.  Then  a  German  in 
the  employ  of  the  Tschudi's,  famous 
makers  of  harpsichords,  invented 
the  familiar  "  square "  style.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  most  noted  European 
makers  were  the  Stiens,  Stodart, 
Broadwood,  Pleyel,  Erard,  and  Sil- 
berman.  Pleyel  was  distinguished 
not  only  for  his  fine  instruments, 
but  for  the  fact  that  he  was  the 
twenty-fourth  child  born  to  his 
mother  after  she  married  Martin 

[37] 


HOW     THE     PIANO 


Pleyel.  She  died  soon  after  his 
birth,  whereupon  his  father  took 
unto  himself  another  wife  and  had 
fourteen  more  children,  making  a 
family  of  thirty-eight,  thirty-five  of 
whom  lived  and  prospered.  Pleyel 
was  chapel  master  of  Strasburg 
Cathedral.  He  was  the  author  of 
some  fine  hymns  and  other  compo- 
sitions which  we  know  and  love 
today.  He  lived  in  Paris,  manufac- 
tured splendid  pianos,  and  was,  be- 
fore his  death,  proprietor  of  one  of 
the  largest  establishments  in  Europe. 

To  show  against  what  prejudice 
the  piano  had  to  struggle  as  com- 
pared to  the  harpsichord  (and  even 
the  clavichord),  we  quote  from  a 
musical  critic  in  Leipzig  who  said: 

"The  clavichord  stands  highest  of 
all  instruments,  and  although  on 
[38] 


CAME     TO     BE 


account  of  its  nature  it  is  excluded 
from  the  concert  hall,  it  is  the  com- 
panion of  the  recluse.  The  latter 
says  to  himself:  'Here  I  can 
produce  the  feelings  of  my  heart, 
can  shade  fully,  drive  away  care, 
and  melt  away  a  tone  through 
all  its  swellings/'  This  critic  says 
further: 

"The  piano  is  so  deficient  in  its 
shadings  and  minor  attractions,  it 
is  adapted  only  for  concerts  and 
chamber  music."  This  dissertation 
closes  as  follows:  "In  order  to  judge 
a  virtuoso,  one  must  listen  to  him 
while  at  the  clavichord,  not  while 
at  the  piano  or  harpsichord." 

To  illustrate  the  novelty  of  the 
piano  in  the  year  1767,  we  find  on 
an  old  English  play  bill  of  the 
Covent  Garden  Theater  a  certain 

[39] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


Miss  Brickler  advertised  to  sing  a 
favorite  song  from  "Judith,"  ac- 
companied by  Mr.  Dibdin  on  "  a  new 
instrument "  called  the  pianoforte. 
This  was  at  the  intermission  after 
the  first  act  of  "The  Beggars"  opera. 
After  Mozart  became  acquainted 
with  the  piano,  he  gave  his  prefer- 
ence to  those  made  by  Stien,  of 
Augsburg.  Afterwards,  however,  he 
transferred  his  affection  to  those 
made  by  Anton  Walter,  of  Vienna. 
His  "grand,"  which  was  but  five 
octaves,  with  white  sharps  and  black 
naturals,  is  now  in  the  Mozarteum 
at  Salzburg. 

Silberman,  the  German  maker,  was 
finally  successful  in  interesting  King 
Frederick  of  Prussia  in  his  new  in- 
strument to  the  extent  of  persuading 
him  to  purchase  outright  all  he  had 
[40] 


PIANO  MADE  BY  MATTHAUS  ANDREAS  STEIN 
VIENNA,  EARLY  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


CAME     TO     BE 

finished.  There  were  some  fifteen 
of  these,  which  were  placed  in  the 
rooms  at  the  palace.  This  demon- 
strates the  King's  love  for  music. 
He  was  a  flute  player  of  considerable 
ability.  One  of  the  court  musicians 
was  Carl  Philip  Emanuel  Bach,  son 
of  the  great  master,  and  King  Fred- 
erick had  expressed  a  desire  to  hear 
the  elder  Bach  play  upon  the  new  in- 
vention. For  some  time  old  Sebastian 
was  obstinate  and  tartly  declined  all 
invitations.  His  son  at  last  cajoled 
him  into  acceding  to  the  King's 
wishes.  He  arrived  most  unexpect- 
edly and  excited  the  King  to  such  an 
extent  that  he  rushed  out  exclaiming: 
"Gentlemen,  old  Bach  has  come." 

During  the  performance  he  stood 
behind  the  musician's  chair  mutter- 
ing in  an  undertone:  "Only  one 

[41] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


Bach,  only  one  Bach."  The  King 
requested  the  improvisation  of  a 
fugue  in  six  parts,  which  the  master 
did  to  the  astonishment  of  all  present. 
But  for  the  new  instrument  Bach 
had  little  use.  He  complimented 
Silberman  on  his  production,  but  he 
found  fault  with  the  unequal  tones. 
He  said  the  high  notes  were  too  weak, 
that  it  was  too  hard  to  play.  Of 
course  this  greatly  displeased  the 
maker.  For  a  long  time  he  was  very 
angry.  But  his  better  judgment 
came  to  the  rescue  and  at  a  later 
date  he  succeeded  in  producing  an 
instrument  to  which  the  master  gave 
his  approval.  Bach,  however,  was 
never  convinced  that  any  instrument 
was  equal  to  his  beloved  clavichord. 
It  will  be  of  interest  to  women  to 
know  that  Maria  Anna  Stien,  daugh- 
[42] 


CAME     TO     BE 


ter  of  Johann  Andreas  Stien,  the 
piano  maker,  was  a  most  successful 
business  woman,  carrying  on  the 
manufacturing  of  instruments.  This 
she  continued  after  her  marriage  to 
Herr  Streicher.  She  was  a  person 
of  rare  refinement  and  a  warm  friend 
of  Beethoven,  whom  she  greatly  ad- 
mired. She  was  privileged  to  make 
his  last  years  more  comfortable  than 
any  he  had  previously  experienced. 
Good  servants  were  provided  to  look 
after  his  bodily  needs  and  she  always 
had  one  of  her  best  pianos  at  his 
disposal.  In  a  letter  to  "Nanette," 
as  she  was  called,  he  wrote:  "Per- 
haps you  do  not  know  that  though 
I  have  not  always  had  one  of  your 
pianos,  since  1809  I  have  invariably 
preferred  them." 

As  late  as  1882  there  was  a  grand 

[43] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


piano  at  Windsor  Castle  which  bore 
the  name  of  Nanette  Stien,  Maker. 
It  belonged  to  Queen  Victoria. 

Clementi  may  be  considered  the 
first  legitimate  writer  for  the  piano. 
All  the  great  masters,  including 
Scarlatti,  Handel,  Bach,  and  Haydn 
(in  his  first  compositions),  were  writ- 
ten for  the  clavichord.  So  when 
listening  to  the  classics  they  have 
left  for  us,  we  must  remember  the 
limitations  of  the  instruments  upon 
which  they  played  and  for  which 
they  wrote.  Probably  no  one  has 
realized  this  fact  more  keenly  than 
the  late  Mr.  Morris  Stienert,  of  New 
Haven,  Conn.  He  spent  the  best 
years  of  his  life  (to  say  nothing  of 
his  fortune)  in  collecting  the  rare 
and  valuable  instruments  which  he 
presented  to  Yale  College. 
[44] 


CAME     TO     BE 


Mr.  Stienert  not  only  searched  for 
these  treasures  all  over  Europe,  but 
he  had  them  restored  and  played 
upon  them,  thus  giving  to  the  world 
the  long-forgotten  sounds  and  show- 
ing, by  the  only  method  possible, 
just  how  the  great  masters  played. 
During  the  World's  Fair  the  Stienert 
collection  was  in  the  Manufacturers' 
Building,  the  center  of  attraction  for 
music  lovers.  His  experiences  were 
most  interesting  in  obtaining  some 
of  the  rarest  specimens.  For  in- 
stance, a  harpsichord  with  the  date 
1710  on  its  case  was  found  broken 
and  dust-covered  in  an  attic  in 
Vienna.  It  had  two  keyboards, 
tortoise-shell  naturals  and  ivory 
sharps.  It  had  eight  stops,  one  imi- 
tating the  lute  and  one  the  flute. 
The  sounding  board  was  elaborately 

[45] 


HOW     THE     PIANO 

painted  with  flowers  and  other  deco- 
rative symbols,  while  the  inside  lid 
was  ornate  with  strictly  Japanese 
art. 

The  dearly  loved  *  Nanette  Stien" 
piano,  Beethoven's  much  prized  pos- 
session, is  in  Mr.  Stienert'  collec- 
tion. America  is  the  home  of  many 
priceless  pianos.  In  this  same  group 
we  find  an  instrument  once  belonging 
to  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  To  be  cor- 
rect, it  is  a  harpsichord,  and  it  was 
given  to  a  French  sergeant  when 
the  fallen  monarch  was  banished  to 
St.  Helena.  The  Frenchman  came 
to  America  and  gave  the  harpsichord 
to  Simon  Bates,  of  Scituate  Harbor 
Light,  Mass.,  from  whose  heirs  Mr. 
Steinert  purchased  it.  Claviers,  dul- 
cimers, spinets,  and  harpsichords,  be- 
longing once  upon  a  time  to  Bach, 
[46] 


CAME     TO     BE 


Haydn,  and  Mozart,  are  in  this 
famous  collection. 

Besides  the  instruments  of  by- 
gone days,  Mr.  Stienert  has  been 
able  to  get  original  manuscripts, 
worth  their  weight  in  gold.  It  is  a 
fascinating  character  study  to  ex- 
amine the  scores  of  the  old  masters 
and  note  the  difference  in  style  and 
method.  For  many  years  this  man 
made  arduous  tours  with  his  instru- 
ments, giving  lectures  and  illustrating 
them  with  actual  performance  of  the 
music  on  the  instrument  for  which  it 
was  composed.  His  only  compensa- 
tion was  that  he  felt  he  was  further- 
ing the  true  spirit  of  art  and  music 
in  this  the  country  of  his  adoption. 
In  his  personal  reminiscences  pub- 
lished some  years  ago  he  says: 

"How  dealers  in  pianos  of  this  day 

[47] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


must  envy  the  manufacturers  of  the 
good  old  times  when  they  remember 
that  then  the  would-be  purchaser  had 
to  look  up  the  maker  and  court  his 
pleasure.  He  had  to  sign  a  written 
contract,  the  terms  of  which  sound 
droll  enough  to  us.  The  time  limit 
for  construction  was  from  six  to 
twelve  months  and  the  payments 
were,  generally,  so  much  cash,  so 
many  casks  of  wine,  a  certain  amount 
of  corn,  wheat,  and  potatoes,  while 
geese,  chickens,  and  turkeys  consti- 
tuted some  of  the  articles  used  in 
payment.  Even  a  few  cords  of  wood 
would  be  acceptable  in  making  up 
the  balance.  When  the  piano  was 
completed,  ready  for  delivery  at 
the  home  of  the  impatient  purchaser, 
a  general  festival  took  place.  The 
maker  was  the  hero  of  the  hour.  He 
[48] 


O 


CAME     TO     BE 


was  accompanied  by  his  craftsmen, 
and  apprentices  if  he  had  any,  and 
they  followed  the  gaily  decorated 
wagon  and  horses  which  bore  the 
precious  burden  to  its  new  home.  A 
band  of  music  headed  the  procession 
and  the  maker  was  borne  aloft  on  the 
shoulders  of  his  assistants.  Musi- 
cians, organists,  school  masters,  and 
other  dignitaries  marched  in  the 
rear.  At  the  place  of  destination 
the  procession  was  received  with 
joyous  shouts  of  welcome.  The  min- 
ister said  a  prayer  and  blessed  the 
instrument  and  its  maker.  Then 
the  mayor  or  burgomaster  delivered 
an  address,  dwelling  at  length  upon 
the  importance  of  the  event  to  the 
whole  community,  stating  that  the 
coming  of  the  new  musical  instru- 
ment would  raise  the  standing  of 

[49] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


the  place  in  the  eyes  of  the  surround- 
ing countryside.  Speeches  followed 
by  the  school  master,  doctor,  drug- 
gist, and  other  officials.  The  manne- 
chor  of  the  village  rendered  songs, 
and  amid  the  strains  from  the  band 
the  piano  was  moved  into  place. 
A  banquet  and  dance  closed  the 
happy  occasion." 

In  those  days  the  manufacturer 
had  to  make  each  article  by  hand 
that  went  into  a  piano,  which  is  the 
reason  it  took  so  long  to  finish  the 
instrument. 

If  the  early  records  are  reliable, 
the  history  of  the  piano  in  this 
country  begins  at  Philadelphia.  In 
1775  John  Behrend,  a  German  or 
Swede,  built  an  instrument  in  the 
Quaker  city,  and  up  to  1855  it  con- 
tinued to  be  the  center  of  trade  in 
[50] 


PIANO  MADE  BY  CHARLES  ALBRECHT,  PHILADELPHIA 


CAME     TO     BE 

musical  instruments.  When  we  con- 
sider how  much  the  piano  has  con- 
tributed to  the  happiness  of  mankind 
and  to  the  promotion  of  art  and 
culture,  the  honor  conceded  to  the 
Pennsylvania  city  is  by  no  means 
a  small  one.  The  first  spinets  and 
virginals  made  on  this  side  of  the 
water  were  undoubtedly  of  Phila- 
delphia manufacture.  This  was  in 
the  year  1742.  Along  with  its  musi- 
cal progress  it  is  said  that  the  first 
hand  or  barrel  organs  were  made 
there,  and  of  the  latter  some  one 
says:  "They  are  the  curse  and 
plague  of  the  modern  high  class 
individual."  A  Scotchman,  who  set- 
tled in  Philadelphia  near  the  end 
of  1785,  was  the  maker  of  the  hand- 
organ. 

To  show  that  the  town  was  pro- 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


gressive  in  all  kinds  of  instruments, 
we  find  that  the  historical  society 
of  Philadelphia  has  records  of  the 
first  organ  built  there  in  1737  by 
one  Mathew  Zimmerman.  Local 
historians  claim  it  to  be  the  first 
one  built  in  America.  John  Clark 
built  one  at  Salem,  Mass.,  in  1743, 
for  the  Episcopal  church  at  that 
place.  This  puts  Massachusetts  well 
to  the  front  in  early  musical  history. 
Zimmerman's  will,  probated  the  same 
year  he  finished  the  organ,  bequeaths 
it  to  his  nephew  and  expresses  the 
hope  that  he  would  learn  to  play 
upon  it,  adding,  "If  not,  it  can  be 
sold,  owing  to  its  being  so  much  of 
a  curiosity." 

The   story  of  the   first   piano   to 
come    into    this    country    is    truly 
romantic  and  historic.     The  famous 
[52] 


a 


Z 

pg 

O 
n 

2 
c 


CAME     TO     BE 


continental  frigate  "Boston,"  a  pri- 
vateer, sailed  into  port  with  a  British 
merchant  ship  as  a  prize.  The  daunt- 
less Captain  Tucker  was  in  com- 
mand. The  cargo  was  sold  for  the 
benefit  of  the  National  Treasury, 
and  among  other  articles  was  a 
pianoforte  of  London  make. 

It  was  not  until  after  the  revo- 
lutionary period  that  the  spinet 
and  harpsichord  were  superseded 
in  this  country  by  the  piano.  A 
newspaper  of  1791  tells  us  that  there 
were  some  twenty-seven  pianos 
among  the  wealthy  Boston  families. 
All  were  of  English  make.  In  1840 
slow,  easy-going  ways  crept  into 
Philadelphia  and  she  lost  the  prestige 
she  once  enjoyed  of  being  the  center 
of  musical  culture  as  well  as  of  art 
and  literature.  Boston  took  the 

[53] 


HOW     THE      PIANO 

place  and  has  held  it  ever  since. 
Many  of  the  distinctive  features  of 
the  American  piano  actually  origi- 
nated there,  such  as  the  applying 
of  metal  in  construction,  which  idea 
was  first  shown  to  be  practical  by 
Alpheus  Babcock  and  Jonas  Chick- 
ering.  Then  Timothy  Gilbert,  an- 
other Boston  man,  conceived  the 
upright  action  which  is  in  such 
general  use  today.  There  is  no 
doubt  but  that  Chickering  was 
the  first  man  who  dared  deviate 
from  a  prescribed  method  in  case 
building. 

Old  newspapers  contain  much  of 
interest  concerning  these  first  days 
in  the  musical  history  of  our  country. 
In  the  Boston  Gazette,  published  in 
1770,  we  are  told  that  an  excellent 
spinet  had  just  been  completed  which 
[54] 


CAME     TO     BE 


for  goodness  of  workmanship  and 
harmony  of  sound  was  esteemed  by 
the  best  judges  to  be  superior  to 
those  imported.  So  much  for  Ameri- 
can skill  and  enterprise. 

It  might  be  well  to  mention  that 
Massachusetts  is  credited  with  mak- 
ing the  first  violins  in  this  country. 
In  1789,  also,  there  were  two  teachers 
of  harp  and  piano  in  Boston,  one  of 
whom  could  act  as  tuner  and  repairer 
if  occasion  demanded.  We  find  that 
Boston  early  supported  a  musical 
magazine.  In  1797  Peter  Van 
Hazen  left  New  York  for  the  "Hub" 
and  there  issued  the  first  copy  of 
his  publication  devoted  to  topics 
on  music.  He  also  imported  sheet 
music  direct  from  London.  It  was 
about  1800  when  Benjamin  Crehore, 
of  Milton,  Mass.,  built  the  first  piano 

Issl 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


ever  made  in  this  country,  and  he 
did  it  in  Boston.  He  was  a  skilled 
workman  who  knew  how  to  make 
violins,  'cellos,  guitars,  drums,  and 
flutes.  Ten  or  twelve  pianos  were 
all  he  could  make  in  one  year  and, 
to  the  shame  of  America  be  it  re- 
corded, he  had  to  put  the  stamp  of 
London  or  Paris  upon  them  before 
he  could  make  a  sale,  showing  that 
our  forefathers  considered  the  for- 
eign made  article  superior  to  those 
of  home  manufacture.  All  these 
things  are  changed,  however;  the 
American  instrument  now  commands 
the  highest  price  and  is  shipped  to 
every  part  of  the  world. 

The  New  York  newspapers  of 
olden  time  contain  many  notices 
that  are  curious  enough  to  us  who 
read  them  over  in  this  day  and 

[56] 


A  STODART  PIANO  (OLD  ENGLISH) 


CAME     TO     BE 


generation.  For  instance,  we  find 
that  "Peter  Goelet  has  just  gotten 
in  a  supply  of  goods  on  the  ship 
'Earl  of  Dunmore/  and  advertises 
that  he  has  over  three  hundred 
articles,  from  masons'  trowels  to 
oil  paint,  skillets  and  books,  paint- 
pots,  guitars,  fiddles,  flutes  and  other 
musical  instruments,  as  well  as  a 
large  box  of  harpsichord  wire  and 
hammers." 

This  motley  collection  no  doubt 
found  eager  customers.  Another 
paper  tells  us  that  "Herman  Zed- 
witz,  teacher  of  the  violin,  announces 
to  the  public  that  he  has  just  returned 
from  Europe  and  will  give  a  concert 
in  the  assembly  rooms  at  the  'Sign 
of  the  Golden  Spade."  Later,  in 
1774,  this  same  man  evidently  found 
that  the  public  did  not  appreciate 

1571 


HOW     THE      PIANO 


him  musically,  for  the  intervals  were 
so  long  between  lessons  and  engage- 
ments for  his  violin  that  he  was 
forced  to  take  up  the  occupation  of 
a  chimney  sweep.  From  accounts 
in  the  paper  he  must  have  inaugu- 
rated a  sort  of  trust,  for  he  adver- 
tised to  take  contracts  by  the  year 
for  "dusting  out  the  sooty  interior 
of  flues"  and  adds,  "None  but 
competent  boys  employed."  Evi- 
dently musical  culture  in  New  York 
was  temporarily  at  a  low  ebb. 

In  this  story  of  the  evolution  of 
the  piano  we  have  seen  how,  from 
its  primitive  beginning,  it  has  become 
the  one  splendid  instrument  that  is 
capable  of  representing  the  effect  of 
a  full  orchestra.  Before  the  death 
of  Beethoven  he  realized  the  tre- 
mendous power  of  the  piano  and 

[58] 


CAME     TO     BE 


displayed  its  resources  in  a  manner 
undreamed  of  by  Haydn.  Could 
these  old  masters  return  today  and 
sit  at  one  of  the  splendid  produc- 
tions of  the  twentieth  century  they 
would  be  dumb  with  amazement 
and  entirely  at  a  loss  as  to  how 
to  handle  the  enormous  range  of 
seven  and  a  third  octaves.  Best  of 
all,  the  price  is  such  that  some 
style  of  modern  piano  is  within  the 
reach  of  nearly  every  one.  Music 
in  the  home  is  now  the  rule,  not 
the  exception. 

Leigh  Hunt  has  well  expressed 
the  feeling  of  all  piano  lovers  in  these 
verses,  which  are  full  of  sentiment: 

Oh,  friend,  whom  glad  or  gay  we  seek, 

Heaven-holding  shrine; 
I  ope  thee,  touch  thee,  hear  thee  speak, 

And  peace  is  mine. 

(S9l 


HOW   THE    PIANO    CAME    TO    BE 

No  fairy  casket  full  of  bliss, 

Outvalues  thee; 
Love  only,  wakened  with  a  kiss 

More  sweet  may  be. 

To  thee,  when  our  full  hearts  o'erflow, 

In  griefs  or  joys 
Unspeakable,  emotions  owe 

A  fitting  voice. 
Mirth  flees  to  thee,  and  loves  unrest, 

And  memory  dear, 
And  sorrow,  with  his  tightened  breast 

Comes  for  a  tear. 

Oh,  since  few  joys  of  human  mould, 

Thus  wait  us  still, 
Thrice  blessed  be  thine,  thou  gentle  fold 

Of  peace  at  will. 
No  change,  no  sullenness,  no  cheat 

In  thee  we  find; 
Thy  saddest  voice  is  ever  sweet, 

Thine  answer  kind. 


[60] 


A    000674312     4 


